Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Pursued encapsulates story telling, but the characters struggle to give the story vibrant life.Robert Mitchum as the main character Jeb, is bland and completely lifeless, I really couldn't care less about him. Someone in a review said his character is just a thumbnail sketch, spot on I say. While Teresa Wright, the best actor in this film, is too restrained in her role and takes a back seat. I have no problem with the Adam character, I don't think you need more depth in this character, his actions are understandable. I liked when Thor revealed to her mother her intentions of killing Jeb, that was a bit of a shock, but then it all turned back rather quickly. The characters mindsets change rather haphazardly throughout the film.

This is a troubling and ingenious story set in the New Mexico territories (i.e. before it was a state) at the turn of the 19th century. It is thus a kind of film noir set in the past and out in the wilds of the West. But there are no 'cowboys and Indians'. Robert Mitchum stars as Jeb Rand, a young man whom mysterious people have always been trying to kill. He was saved when he was six by his adoptive 'Ma', Mrs. Callum (Judith Anderson), after a massacre at his parents' isolated cabin 'up in the Butte country'. Mitchum has blacked out the recollections of how his mother, father, sister and brother were all killed by a gang of terrifying men, or what the reason for it all was. He was not meant to survive, but his new 'Ma' pulled him from a hiding place, fled with him and raised him as her own son, along with her real son and daughter. The daughter is played by winsome Theresa Wright, but unlike most of her 'good girl' parts, she is permitted a huge acting range in this film and goes through extreme character changes very convincingly indeed. When she is in her murderous 'hate phase', she is very scary. Mitchum also does some acting for a change, unlike most of his roles where he is just himself. These miracles of thespianism must all have been brought about by Raoul Walsh, the director, who coaxed Mitchum and Wright into territory as unfamiliar, perhaps, as New Mexico itself. Theresa Wright was always a most congenial screen presence and, like Bonita Granville, brought a great deal of normality and good character to a screen full of, let's face it, pretty weird people. It is not for nothing that actresses like Theresa Wright were referred to as 'girl next door types', since we all secretly wished we really had such girls next door. The villain in this film is played by Dean Jagger. He plays a well-mannered man, skilled in all the social niceties, who after smiling at you will without any fuss at all pull out a gun and shoot you dead, then go back to filing his fingernails. Jagger was always good at playing such characters, namely sophisticated psychopaths. He would have made a good 'world leader'. I don't know why he reminds me of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, it must just be my imagination. Anyway, this film is really very good because the mystery of why 'they' are after poor, uncomprehending Robert Mitchum, continues all the way through and right up to the very end of the film. We keep wondering who and especially we wonder why. For once, someone's paranoid fears are shown to be justified. That must give comfort of a kind to us all. These days, of course, it is the IRS, but back then it was humans rather than humanoids who were the threat. The film also has a powerful continuing love story, namely the love between Mitchum and his adoptive sister Theresa Wright, whom he wishes to marry. Judith Anderson plays 'Ma' with grim jaw and a determination to forget the past. But the past catches up with everyone, and it has to be faced, even by her. Finally, at the end, we find out what it is all about, but not until we have run out of ideas of our own as to what can possibly have motivated the relentless vendetta.

Considering that the film stars Robert Mitchum AND is not just another recycled plot, I am willing to cut it some slack since the story itself seems a bit hard to believe....no, it's VERY hard to believe. Because 95% of all westerns have one of about five basic plots (maybe even four), the 5% that are NOT are gems. So the fact that this film is NOT about uppity Indians, nasty bosses determined to chase farmers/sheep herders/the little guy off their land, trying to bring a guy to justice despite the town not willing to get involved, it's well worth seeing.The film begins with a young boy being raised by a woman and her kid after the boy lost his family. Exactly how is not revealed until the end, but having the grown boy (Mitchum) 'suddenly' remember what happened when he was a kid and how the family was killed was annoying--since life doesn't work that way. The rest of the intervening story is a series of run-ins with his foster-mother's extended family--they want to kill the boy as 'he's no good' and again and again the guy is forced to kill to defend himself. Each time he kills, it proves to this family he's bad--but THEY are the ones constantly trying to kill him! See the film to see more about why and in the process see some darn good acting. In addition to Mitchum (who's always great), I liked Dean Jagger--he played a despicable guy very well. Well worth seeing.

In the turn of the Nineteenth century, the orphan Jeb Rand is raised by Mrs. Callum (Judith Anderson) with her daughter Thorley and her son Adam. Jeb has a trauma with recollections of boots and flashes of light and Adam envies him. When Jeb is shot by the one-armed Grant Callum (Dean Jagger), Ms. Callum goes to the hotel and tells his relative to stop the family feud and forget Jeb. Years later, Grant is a prosecutor and presses Jeb (Robert Mitchum) to fight in the war against the Spanish. When Jeb returns a decorated hero, he courts Thor (Teresa Wright) and proposes her. But Jeb has an argument with Adam that was poisoned by Grant and Adam snipes his step-brother while he is riding trying to kill him. However, Jeb shots him in self-defense and is declared non-guilty by the court. But Grant has not given-up to kill the last Rand. "Pursued" is a great western by Raoul Walsh that blends western and film-noir creating an unforgettable film about a family feud with a revengeful man. The locations and the camera work are astonishing and top-notch. My vote is nine.Title (Brazil): "Sua Única Saída" ("His Only Exit")